It is our extreme pleasure to
welcome Dr. Kenya Goodson to the Valenrich Team where she will serve in the
capacity of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) Diversity
Consultant.Dr. Goodson is the first
African American female to earn a doctorate from The University of Alabama's
Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering department; earning her PhD
in Civil Engineering.

Dr. Kenya L. Goodson is
originally from Tuscaloosa, AL. In
addition to her doctorate, she has earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
with Cum Laude honors from Stillman College and a Master of Science degree in
Environmental Management from Samford University.Dr. Goodson’s professional experience
includes inspecting onsite wastewater treatment systems with the Alabama
Department of Public Health in Tuscaloosa County as a Public Health
Environmentalist.Her research on the
treatability of emerging contaminants in wastewater during wet weather flows
explores the effects of stormwater inflow and infiltration in the treatment of
certain pharmaceuticals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and pesticides in wastewater
treatment.

Dr. Goodson has been presented at
various conferences such as the Environmental and Water Resources Institute and
the Water Environment Federation. She co-authored
a final report for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on emerging
contaminants in wet weather flows. She is also collaborating on a book chapter
on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in wastewater.Dr. Goodson is committed to environmental justice
and activism with a focus on environmental research involving vulnerable
communities impacted by low socioeconomic status.

Through the Valenrich Wellness signature program titled ‘Supporting Diversity
in the STEM Fields’, Dr. Goodson teams up with Dr. Nadia Richardson to explore
the socio-cultural factors that impact women and minority persistence in science,
technology, engineering, or math (STEM) fields.It has been found that women and minorities who intend to complete STEM related
degrees are less likely to persist towards completion (Price, 2010).Dr. Richardson has found that many
underrepresented STEM students use this startling fact as motivation to
succeed; often to the detriment of their mental wellness.Dr. Goodson combines her experiential insight
with her passion for increasing the presence of minority students and faculty members
in the STEM discipline to provide strategies for creating culturally inclusive academic
and professional environments that diversify the field and foster
life-balance.